Costco, based in Issaquah, Wash., had no comment Friday. Chairman and co-founder Jeff Brotman, who handles media inquiries, was unavailable, said Jennifer Spadafora, executive assistant. She said in an email: “Our corporate policy is to not comment on specific markets.”

The eventual location of one of the popular membership warehouse clubs in Oklahoma is a foregone conclusion among commercial property development experts.

Costco is among a list of big-name retailers that are “kicking the tires and searching for locations” here — others include Cabella's, Nordstrom Rack, Von Maur and Ruth's Chris — according to Price Edwards & Co.

“While Costco is one of the more exciting retailers on the ... list, it appears that they may be passing on Oklahoma City for now,” Price Edwards said in its just-released 2012 Year-End Retail Market Summary, downloadable from www.priceedwards.com. “They've secured a site on South Memorial in Tulsa for their first Oklahoma store and may see how that store does first.”

Some Costco fans also assume a deal is done or inevitable. There is a Facebook page: Bring Costco to Tulsa.

“Costco is planning to build in Tulsa. Higher numbers on this page will hopefully compel them to build in Tulsa sooner,” the page founder said in a post on Christmas Day.